Design-a-Fish
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Description
In this science and language arts activity, learners study fish anatomy and make their very own 3D paper fish. Learners write stories about their fish, answering questions such as 'Where does your fish live?' and 'How does it protect itself from danger?' The activity guide includes 5 pages of templates of different types of fish bodies and fins.
Quick Guide
- Preparation Time: 5 to 10 minutes
- Learning Time: 45 to 60 minutes
- Estimated materials cost: 1 cent - $1 per student
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Age Range: Ages 6 - 11
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Resource Types:
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Language: English
Materials List (per student)
- Scissors
- Markers or crayons
- Tape or glue
- Googly eyes (optional)
- Fish Parts templates (pp 5-9 of pdf) printed on cardstock
- Parts of a Fish worksheet (page 4 of pdf)
- Writing paper
- Fish storybook (recommended: Fabulous Fishes by Susan Stockdale, or The Pout-Pout Fish by Dan Hanna)
Subjects
Informal Categories
- Animals
- Arts and Crafts
- Nature and Environment
Subjects
- Life Sciences
- Diversity of Life
- Animals
- Evolution
- Mechanisms of Evolution
- Diversity of Life
Audience
To use this activity learners need to
- see
- see color
- read
- touch
Learning styles supported
- Involves hands-on or lab activities
Other
Includes alignment to state and/or national standards:
Comments
We do a simplified version of this activity at Carnegie Science Center. We start by cutting a "pie slice" out of a paper plate (which makes the fish's mouth) and stapling the cut-out piece on the opposite side as the tail. The kids then use bingo stampers to color the fish.
We use this activity to teach about what different colors on a fish might mean (camouflage, interspecies communication, intraspecies communication).
This is an excellent resource and well-thought out. The optional diorama is fun for putting the student's fish in its natural habitat.